Stitching machine



Jan. 12, 1932. F. OHLIG STITCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 26, 1929 7n vanfor.-

Jan. 12, 1932. F. OHLIG 1,841,146

STITCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 26, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 12,1932 j eanan STATES PATENT OFFICE FRITZOELIG; or 'GAUTZSCIVI, NEAR Lnirze, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE FIRM rnuussn & co. AKTIEN-GESELLSGHAFT, orLEIPZIG, GERMANY STITCHING MACHINE Applicationfiled January 26, 1929,Serial No. 335,372, and in Germany January 23, 1928.

'The present-invention relates to a stitching'fnachine.

The stitching of books by means of the stitching machines at present inuse is a very complicated and time-consuming process, be-

cause the printed, folded, and numbered sheets piledon long tables mustbe collected by hand, according towhether back or block stitching is totake place, laced into or on top of one another, and nally fed to thestitching machine by hand. I

T'Thes'e steps require much labor and space, and the object'oftheinvention is to remove these drawbacks by providing the stitchingmachine with a fully automatic sheet collecting,feeding and deliverydevice. The device serving for collecting the sheets,feeding them to thestitching machine and delivering them.

ma be executed in a great variety of types. ne'for'm of the invention isillustrated in the. accompanyin drawings, .in which Figure 1 is aside'view; ig. 2, a top view; Figs. 3 and 4, a view showing the actionof the collecting.

blade; Fig. 5, a view. of the feeding device in various positions, andFig. 6 shows a front view of the delivery device.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the frame of the stitching machine whichoperates in the known manner and is driven by the motor 2. The'stitchingheads and the means for driving them-have been omitted in the drawingsto simplify matters. The motor 2 rests one carrier 3, one end of whichis secured to the frame 1 and the other, to the base 4 of a column'5'.Surrounding the column 5 in .a

circle are the feeding tables 6 whichare supported by the arms 7 of thebase 4. The tables are spaced uniformly from one another with theexception of two, the distance between 0 which is twice thatiprevailingbetween the others. These'two tables, i. e., the first and the lastone,are arranged symmetrically relative to the center line of the frame 1and base.

4. The folded sheets to be stitched are piled 5 on the tables'so thateach pile contains the sheets to be inserted in the sheets ofthepreceding piles, while the side and rear ledges 8 preventthepilesfrom shifting. 'The tables 6 are raised intheknown manner when thepile is reduced in height, and as the device for raising the tables isknown, it is not shown in the drawings. Above each pile one or moresuction, heads 9 are arranged connected by the hose 10 with an'airchamber 12 carried by the top 11 of the column 5. The'air chamber 12 isconnected byan air piping 13 with an air pump 14 actuated by the drivingmotor of the stitching machine. For the sake of simplicity it is assumedthat the pump is of the piston type and adapted to suck air from thechamber 12 at onestroke and to press in air at the next stroke. Each ofthe suctionheads 9 is carried by an arm 15 articulated to the column top11 and engages, as a rule, the top sheetof the pile.

The column 4 is provided in its upper part with a rim 16 carrying alever arm 17 with the pawl18, which rotate easily thereon, andsupporting a feed disc 19 which rotates loosely on the column4, the pawl18 cooperating with the feed disc 19. The lever 17 by means of a spring20, is continually drawn against a crank pin 21 of a'disc 22 arranged ona shaft 24placed vertically in the arms 23 of the rim 16 of the baseland driven continually by the motor 2 over a compound gear 25, ahorizontal shaft 26, and a bevel pinion 27. During the rotation of thedisc 22 the lever arm 17 is moved forward and backward to the extent ofan angle corresponding to the distance between two piles. Durin themovement in one direction the feed disc 19 is caught which is providedwith the flat blades 28 arranged on a level with the top of the pile andextending-towards the piles and. a distance across them, the number ofblades exceeding the number of piles by one. The folded sheets are nowpiled so that the blades 28, at each rotation of the disc 19 and whenstriking a pile, move from one corner between .the folded top sheet andcatch it. Between the various piles of pages is a platform 29 on whichthe sheets caught by the blades slide in horizontal position. Y enduring the forward movement of the disc 19 the blades strike the nextpile, they push the sheet carried by them into the fold of the top sheetof the pile concernedand catch the said top sheet also until finally theblades have removed one folded sheet each from all piles and insertedthem into one another.

The suction'heads 9 serve for opening the folded sheet to make sure thatthe blades engage the topsheets without fail. The suction stroke of thepump 14 takes place shortly after the beginning of each feed motion ofthe disc 19 or the blades 28 so that the suc tion heads suck up thesheet lying under them. During the rotation of the disc 19 the stops 30arranged thereon strike a nose 15a of the arms lacarrying the suctionheads 9 and lift them. The suction heads 9 are lifted also and open thefolded sheet so that the blades can enter., The compression stroke ofthe pump continues up to shortly after the beginning of the feed motionof the disc 19 so that,

as the: sheets are caught by the blades, they do not adhere any more tothe suctionnozzles.

To. prevent the catching of the second sheetv during the furthermovement of the feed disc,

light springs 31 are arrangedin the direction of motion ofthe blades andin frontof the piles, the springs being adapted-to hold back the secondsheet and to be pushedaside by the 1 blades.

Between the first and last pile no sheet slide-is provided. When theblades leave the last pile, the sheets arranged thereon drop downloosely so as to ride on the blades.

' lVhen the blades with their depending sheets stop between two motionsofthe disc 19 at the center line of the frame 1 and base 4, a bar 33arranged I on the stitching table 32 of the stitching machine slipsbelow the blade and between the sheets, drawsthem off from the blade,andpushes them on the stitching track 34. To prevent oscillation of thesheets after the feed motion and to cause the bar to enter safelybetween the sheets, a stop 35 is provided whichis struck by the'sheetsat thelast feedmotion. In thehead 3300f the bar 33 float two feelers 36which are connected with a sleeve 37 adapted to slide loosely on the bar33. During the forward movement of the bar 33the sleeve 37, owing toinertia, remains behind and causes the feelers 36 to hug the bar flatly.(Fig. 5). The bar 33 is pushed forward far enough to have its head andthe feelers 36 project completely over the sheets. If the bar 33 ispulled back now, the feelers 36 will spread out, because the sleeve 37follows the bar 33 at a later time at this motion also. (Fig. 5). Thefeelers 36 hug the rear edge of the sheets, push the latter in position,and draw them offfrom the blade and and on to the stitching track.

. Themovement of the feeding bar 33 is actuated by a single arm lever 38pivotally mounted on the machine frame and moved b meansof a connectingrod 39 from a crank drive 40, the" latter being driven from the shaft26'by means of the double helical gears 41. I The movement of the bar 33must be completed during'the stop between two motions of the disc'19.After the bar 33 has placed the .ods now in use.

ranged on the frame 1, the other arm of the bell crank running on thecircumference of a cam disc 46 suitably driven by the motor 2. On thepivot 47 of the lever 43 "a torsional spring 48 is arranged having thetendency to place'the lever 43 in such a position that the ferrule 42hugs the stitching track. The ferrule 42 is moved out of this positionafter each stitching process, when it carries the sheets lying on thestitching track with it and delivers them to a lateral table 49. Whenthe ferrule moves up again, the stitched sheets unfold. g

The machine described makes possible a fully automaticv working processafter the piles have been put on, so that the number of operators andauxiliary labor can be reduced considerably and the output increasedmany times. Moreover, the entire machine requires far less space thanthe working meth- The machine is fitted with the known safety devicesadaptedto stop it, if a blade should failto catch a sheet from the pileor if anything else goes wrong.

Iclaim: f i

1. In a machine of the type described a column, a plurality of suctionheads swingingly connected with the said column,a rotatably feed disc,and a plurality of noses secured to the said feed disc and adapted toraise the said suction heads uponzrotation of said feed disc.

2. In a machine of the type describeda column, a plurality ofblades, atable, a stitching track, a stitching table, means-for supporting aplurality of sheets, said blades re-' ceiving the sheets, and a barslidingly arranged in the said table and adapted to pass under thesheets collected by the said blades and depending from them verticallywhen the said blades are on the center line ofthe machine and the saidcolumn and to draw the said sheets from the said blades and to serve asstraightening means and catches for the sheets. 1

4. In a machine ofthe type described a longitudinally movable feed bar,a sleeve loosely arranged on the said bar, and a plurality of foldingarms articulated to the said sleeve, the said sleeve being adapted tolag behind the motion of the said bar owing to inertia and to cause themovement of the nal direction thereto, said ferrule being provided withsheet engaging means, the said ferrule being moved away from the saidtrack in parallel position after each stitching operation to deliver thestitched sheets.

7. In a machine of the type described a sheet engaging ferrule, astitching table, a cam disc, and an arm carrying the said ferrule andbeing oscillatably arranged in the said table and actuated by the saidcam disc.

8. A machine for collecting sheets in book making, comprising a verticalstandard, a plurality of supports about the standard for receiving pilesof sheets of folded paper, a rotatable disk on the standard arranged atthe top of the piles of sheets, means for r0- 7 tating the disk, aplurality of plates carried by the disk for engaging the top sheets ofeach pile consecutively and removing same, and means for lifting the topsheet of each pile in advance of the plates to enable the plates toengage the sheets.

9. A machine for collecting sheets in book making, comprising a.vertical standard, a plurality of supports about the standard forreceiving piles of sheets of folded paper, a rotatable disk on thestandard arranged at the top of the piles of sheets, means for rotatingthe disk, a plurality of plates carried by the disk for movement in apath across the tops of the piles of sheets to engage each top sheet ofeach pile consecutively and remove the same, and means operating inadvance of the plates for lifting the top sheet to enable the plate toengage it.

10. A machine for collecting sheets in book making, comprising avertical standard, a

- plurality of supports about the standard for receiving piles of sheetsof folded paper, a disk mounted for. intermittent rotational motion onthe standard, means for actuating the disk, a plurality of platescarried by the disk for movement in a path across the tops of the pilesof sheets to engage each top sheet of each pile consecutively and removethe same, table means between the piles of sheets adjacent the topsthereof, and means operating in advance of the plates for lifting thetop sheet to enable the plate to engage it.

11. A machine for collecting sheets in book making, comprising avertical standard, a plurality of supports arranged about the standardfor receiving piles of sheets of folded paper, a disk on the standardand movable with respect thereto, pawl and ratchet means for giving thedisk an intermittent motion, means for actuating the disk, table meansbetween the piles of sheets adjacent the tops thereof, a plurality ofplates carried by the disk and adapted each to pass across the tops ofthe piles as the disk is moved to engage and remove a sheet from eachpile, pneumatic means operating in advance of the plates for lifting thetop sheet to enable the plate to engage it, and means for removing thesheets from the plates.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

FRITZ OHLIG.

